Interior of the Chiriaco Summit Coffee Shop

In the 100 or so desolate miles (161 km) between Indio, California and the Arizona State Line, there is really only one inviting place to stop and relax along the way. The highest point enroute is the Chiriaco Summit at an altitude of 1,706 feet (520 meters), some one-third of the way to the border.

There, one can find:

• A gas station with multiple fuel pumps
• An inviting coffee shop with good food
• A Foster’s Freeze concession in the convenience store
• The General Patton Memorial Museum, at the site of World War 2’s Camp Young of the Desert Training Center

A few years back, Huell Howser did a program in which he interviewed the descendants of the founding family of Chiriaco Summit. You can view it by clicking here.

Martine liked the General Patton Memorial Museum so much that we visited it twice, once on the way to Tucson and once on the return trip. I will be writing a separate post about the museum this weekend.